311 returns as hometown heroes with a new album (Omaha World Herald)

When it comes to Omaha bands, 311’s the biggest one of all.

With several gold albums and the multi-million-selling record “311,” the rap-rock-reggae group has come a long way from its humble beginnings here.

The band’s first-ever show was 21 years ago at Sokol Auditorium, opening for Fugazi. The group played to about 1,000 people, but subsequent shows were smaller.

“It was everything we had been hoping for, and then we kept building from there,” said 311 singer/guitarist Nick Hexum.

Now, the band is on its 10th album, “Universal Pulse,” which just happens to be released the same day the band plays at the Red Sky Music Festival.

The record is short (only eight songs) and sounds more like the music the band started out playing rather than the reggae-like rock it has been known for lately. “Universal Pulse” is also a very tight album — there’s no need to skip the not-so-good tracks in favor of the good ones.

“I think that there’s been a general sort of revelation within the band that the core of what we do is the live setting,” Hexum said. “We realized we wanted to have more of an immediacy and have the album show what we’ve been doing recently rather than what we’ve been doing over three or four years. We figured we’d rather have more frequent releases and shorter.”

To sum up: “We placed quality over quantity,” he said.

“Universal Pulse” is the band’s second album with producer Bob Rock, who has produced hits for everyone from Metallica and Mötley Crüe to Cher.

“He’ll get in there like a sixth member and grab a guitar and suggest little arrangement things or even a chord,” Hexum said. “We’ve worked with other producers that are more of an engineer focus. That, to me, wasn’t as satisfying as really having someone pick it apart and put it back together again.”

Hexum said his favorite song to play right now is “Sunset in July,” the band’s latest single that’s aptly titled for 311’s summer tour.

“Lately I look out at the crowd and I see people so lost in the music,” Hexum said.

This year brings a host of new things for the band. In addition to the new record, the band created a new label (311 Records) after leaving Volcano Entertainment. It also has its own music festival, the 311 Pow Wow Festival.

Those things define success for Hexum.

“The power of music to take people to another dimension — that we really feed off of,” he said. “There’s not any one big event or a platinum album that would define success. It’s a lot of little moments of looking out when you’re really locked in a groove with someone. It’s that sort of connection we have. What an amazing way to make a living.”

http://www.omaha.com/311-returns-as-hometown-heroes-with-a-new-album